Since I got back from hiking the JMT in 2013 I’ve continuously been trying to reduce my base pack weight (=Weight of my filled backpack minus weight of consumables like food, water and fuel).
On the JMT my base pack weight was around 13 or 14 lbs. Bearcan and ukulele included. On the long stretches, especially between Muir Trail Ranch and Mount Whitney, where I carried 9 days worth of food, my backpack was waaaay too heavy for my small shoulders. The first day after MTR wasn’t funny, that I can tell you.
My goal for the Pacific Crest Trail is to get my BPW down to around 8lbs. Sometimes it’s gonna be a little more, sometimes a little less, depending on where I am and whether I need additional clothes or gear for a certain stretch or not.

So this is what my gear list currently looks like. I’m still working on it, so I will probably update this list once in a while in the next three months.
Some items I haven’t weighed yet… yes, just because I was too lazy to do so.
Here we go:

Some items -like a bearcan for the Sierra- are still missing. I will probably rent a Bearikade Weekender from Wild Ideas. Some stuff I still have to buy. I’ll post a gear “overview” pic as soon as I got everything together.

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Additional to posting my gear list I wanna take a moment to say THANK YOU to some of my awesome sponsors who provide me with gear and support!
Now I guess some of you might think: Now that’s easy peasy, Cat gets sponsors, no wonder she can get out on the trail. The thing is: I really worked my ass off the last 2 years to be able to go on this adventure. Flights are expensive, as is gear,… I’m super excited that these sponsors support me. This is special and new for me (I’ve never had sponsors before) and I am super grateful!

And then of course there is GOSSAMER GEAR, who provides me with the awesome GG Gorilla and supports me all the way. I just became a very proud Trail Ambassador. I couldn’t think of a company suiting me better than GG. Take less, do more. Hell yes!!!

TREKKING LITE STORE -one of the few stores in Germany and Europe specializing on lightweight gear – was super generous, lights up the dark by providing me with the Photon Freedom Finger Light. Additional to that Trekking Lite Store makes sure that I will be able to lay my head and body down very comfortably at night on a Therm-a-rest NeoAir XLite. Thanks Henrik!!!

The L.R.I Photon Freedom Finger Light is a superbright superlight LED light, that you can clip to your hat, wear around your neck or even like a ring around your finger. This versatile little light is all I need for getting around camp in the evening and for the occasional night hike.

Who doesn’t know the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir? To me it’s THE sleeping pad to go with. I’m not comfortable on closed cell foam pads and the NeoAir is super lightweight. I’ve been using my NeoAir XTherm for over two years now and never had any problems. Now it’s time to go even lighter. The Xlite has an R-value of 3,2 which is definitely warm enough for a PCT thruhike! A lot of folks are curious to compare the XTherm with the XLite. I am too. I definitely will write a review after coming back from the PCT.

HUMMEL AUSDAUERSHOP is my shop to go (Frank has a shop in Wiesbaden as well as an online store) to buy shoes, Patagonia clothing and other trailrunning stuff. Really folks, if you live in the Rhein-Main-Area and you love trailrunning and hiking… Look no further!!! Frank is one of the only guys selling Altra shoes in Germany, is a crazy trailrunner himself and an awesome person with a great philosophy!

Last but not least: EUROSCHIRM. Yeah!!!! Euroschirm is the original manufacturer from the GoLite Chrome Dome. But now that GoLite is out of business…. aaaaah where to get those awesome trekking umbrellas??? Euroschirm is actually a german family business producing all kinds of umbrellas. When I contacted Euroschirm they were super duper friendly and even were so kind to not only sponsor 1 umbrella but 5, one for each of the 5 YAMA hikers! They’re just super cool. It’s time to spread the word that they are the original manufacturer from the trekking umbrella we love: the Euroschirm Swinglite Flex.